Abstract
Microbial oxidation of monosaccharides and calcium binding capability of the resulting aldonic acids were investigated. When washed cells of a strain of Burkholderia cepacia were shaken with 15% (w/v) D-galactose, D-mannose, D-xylose and L-arabinose in the presence of CaCO3, corresponding aldonates were produced with yields of 99.4, 93.6, 94.5 and 93.0%, respectively, after 2 d for D-galactose and 8 d for the others. Free aldonic acids of high purity were obtained from the reaction supernatants by the treatment with activated carbon followed by cation exchange resin. The aldonic acids showed lower sequestering capacities compared with EDTA and citrate, suggesting weak binding with a calcium ion. Such weak calcium binding and high aqueous solubility of the aldonates suggested their possible application not to builders of detergents, but to functional saccharides that promote intestinal absorption of minerals.
